Chapter 15: Chapter 10 Atlas

It appeared in a city named Addis Ababa. We thought all those people were killed but the truth came out sometime later. With the slaughter that came after, no one was really able to study the damn thing for hundreds of years. I was there, the first time…

 

Chapter 10 Atlas

              It was dark as Atlas walked through the forest with Bane at his side. Despite it being noon, the density of the trees allowed very little light to penetrate its canopy. Days turned into weeks, and it threatened to tear apart Atlas’s resolve; he was returning to society. Save the odd monster attack, the monotony of walking through the identical trees gave him plenty of time to think. Why was he returning? Just for some child? But that child had saved his life. Tom played up the boy’s importance, and Atlas would not have given it much though, everyone loved to build themselves up, except that his home was attacked only days after he appeared.

              It wasn’t just the boy though. Atlas could not explain it, but it tickled at back of his mind. The sensation reminded him of each time he looked at that empty wall in his now destroyed bedroom. Anything he had placed on it was just… not right, and he knew, deep down, that what should be sitting there was a picture he did not possess. It was a picture of his family that he knew of at one point in his life, but no longer. Something about that boy and their story gave him that same feeling, then there were those creatures that attacked. Atlas knew what those monsters were, but he did not know how he knew.

              He looked over at Bane now looking back at him. Atlas had stopped walking in his revelry and his monster of a dog noticed. Though nearly two weeks later, Atlas had not gotten used to his new form. Along with his physical changes including his sizzling venom, Bane no longer needed to sleep. This made for a great companion when traveling through a dangerous and powerfully magical forest. He was still his boy, goofy and a tad absent minded but rather than playing with some ball Atlas had made, he now played with the large bones from monsters he had gone off to killed. Rather than eating the treats he had spent a long time curing and drying, he now snacked on fully grown forest bears. Atlas missed his little boy but knew that this new form would serve him much better in the days to come.

              “It is alright.” Atlas said resting his large hand on Bane’s snout.

              He shook his massive head letting out a sniff. He knew Atlas was lying, and Atlas knew that he knew.

              “I know… Let’s go.”

              Atlas looked back up, he could see where the tree line ended and further past, a wall. Past that wall, the villages would start. Knew he his destination was drawing near. Days ago, the monster attacks came to an end as the forest’s magic grew weaker and weaker. Besides that, the large plumes of smoke made for a dark sky ahead.

              Atlas stepped out of the trees and saw the twenty-foot-tall wall ahead. They were miles away from the nearest entrance, but that didn’t matter, he chose this area for a reason. The only villages inside the safe zones near the wall were those of the gate entrances. There were less villages and more military camps used for training and the filtering of desirable and undesirable in or out of their home. The wall was built around a low magical region and stretched hundreds of miles across with an entrance about every twenty miles along it.

              Years ago, the city state was made up of many smaller ones that warred. Only three remained in this area of the continent. Zion to the east has been cut off from the others by a shift in the magical density. This made a sort of no mans land nearly a hundred miles across at its nearest point to Elkin. Unfortunately, Elkin was not Atlas’s final destination, that would be the city state of Seton.

              With Zion having an easy excuse to leave the war, Elkin was relentless as it tried to consume the ancient city of Seton. The Elkin Hegemony clawed its way through Setons lands and stole everything but the city itself. Strong defenses and honest men held back the terrible armies of Elkin, but that was not the reason why Seton remain out of their reach. The Immortal King, for which the city state had been named from, stood in their way. The hegemony would never dare draw the wrath of Seton, they made that mistake once, many years ago.

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              Unfortunately for Atlas, he needed to reach Seton. He cared very little for the war, even though he was originally from the outskirts of Elkin, he needed to reach their famous library. The only known library with knowledge stretching all the way back to when The Source appeared, the Seton library was world famous. Seton was currently under siege and Atlas needed to find a way in.

              Right now, he only needed to find a way over this wall. One issue at a time. He wished he could plan better, but he was two decades out of date and planning was infeasible. Could he climb? These walls were constructed a long time ago from flat sheets of metal. Nearly impervious to magical attacks, it was also resistant to other types of physical changes.

              Atlas learned this when he placed his hand on the slick surface and attempted to form the metals into hand holds or even steps. Being an Earth User did not give him control over metals perse, but he had been able to exhibit a form of manipulation. When his influence attempted to penetrate the barrier, Atlas suddenly found himself looking up into an open sky flecked with smog, and a shark pain in his chest.

              Bane lumbered up looking down at him with squinting eyes. He then proceeded to roll his eyes.

              “You… suck…” Atlas groaned and rolled over.

              He looked down and saw a hole burned through the center of his shirt, nearly a foot in diameter. It was singed at the edges and let out an aroma of smoke and burned flesh. Kneeling, Atlas placed his hand on the earth below and called on whatever the source was of his power. It seemed that as the years passed, his connection to the world around him grew smaller and smaller until it was just a fledgling of something he once had. He could remember the fire that once blazed in his soul, but now it was just a mere ember.

              It took a few moments, but the familiar green tendrils of magic lowed up, snaked around his arm and plunged into his chest. He felt a slight tingly and an itchiness growing as the flesh healed on his chest. After a few moments, Atlas stood hearing his knees cracking.

              “I am getting old, aren’t I?” he asked Bane. “I am what, fifty…” He trailed off, he could not remember.

              Atlas felt the familiar elephant on his chest and light growing darker. He was losing everything and had nothing and no one to help him. Perhaps he could find help in the city… perhaps, but that is a dangerous game for someone like him.

              Atlas shook his head and focused. Patting Bane on his snout, he walked past and headed to the wall once more. Before he took take three steps, he felt Bane’s large nose slide between his legs. Before Atlas could object, he was flung up in the air. He shouted as he spun, but miraculously landed upright on his companion’s back. Knowing what he was about to do, he grabbed on with all his might. Timing was perfect for as soon as he grasped the thick fur, he felt ten times as heavy when Bane leaped.

              Thirty feet up, they cleared the wall with plenty of space. Just barely able to see what was ahead, Atlas could spot farmland in the distance with spattering of trees, blessedly different trees. They landed in a field of wild wheat, tall grass and tents.

              “Ohhh… great…”

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